Claimer: My Blog, My POV

Occasionally, I will mention my job, my public service activities, and other aspects of my life to offer my readers a better perspective on where I'm coming from. But to be clear:

"The views that I express represent my own opinions, based on my own education and experience, not the opinions of any other entity, party, or group to which I belong. I give these opinions in my individual capacity, as a private citizen, and as someone who gives a good gosh darn about his community, his country, and the truth."

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Dakotas: Huge GOP Donations, Huge Earmarks

Here's a spectacular statistic: for the current election cycle, 77.1% of federal campaign contributions to South Dakota candidates have gone to Republicans. And Senator John Thune doesn't even have a race to run. That's the second-highest GOP-contribution advantage in the nation. The highest: 81.6% in North Dakota.

Over in Minnesota, land of Pawlenty and Bachmann, the GOP–Dem federal campaign donation split is much more even: the Minnesota GOP gets 50.6% of federal campaign donations in the state.

Now consider what those donors get for their money: According to OpenSecrets.org, South Dakota is receiving $91.2 million in earmarks in FY2010. That's over $112 of pork per person. The big GOP donors in North Dakota get even more bacon for the buck: North Dakota gets $151.1 million in earmarks, $233.6 per person. Neighboring Minnesota, nearly four times more populous than both Dakotas put together, is receiving $68.9 million. That's $13 per Minnesotan, the second-lowest per capita earmark haul in the nation.